Fasting Done Wrong

Friends, this is how just about every terrible fasting journey begins. Stuffing yourself full of the thing you’re about to go without in hopes that the one last gasp of fulfillment will sustain you through the grueling fasting journey. HUGE mistake!

First off, there are physical reasons this is bad - your organs will need to work harder to digest the food, making you tired, drowsy, and irritable. You will likely produce gas that will make you uncomfortable, not to mention making yourself hot, sweaty, and dizzy. The last thing you want to do leading into an uncomfortable season is start with discomfort! The same thing applies to your brain if you're not fasting food. Overloading yourself with something you’ll need to give up will create an imbalance that will lead to aching, frustration, and likely regret.

Most people focus on the dread of fasting so much that they either forget/omit their why or they never discover their why in the first place. They believe that fasting is about something that it isn’t. They lose sight of what they will gain by fixating on what they will lose. Your fast is about to go horribly wrong.

You’re doing your fast wrong if:

• You haven’t prepared properly for the fast. If you’re going too fast well from anything leading up to it, you need to do less of that thing rather than more.
• You haven’t considered the health implications. Depending on what you’re fasting from, you must consider if you are physically, emotionally, psychologically, and relationally in a place to embark on this journey.
• You don’t have a strong why. Listen to Episodes 1 & 2 of the podcast for more.
• You’ve planned to fill what you lost with something you don’t need. Often, people will trade one indulgence for another during fasting. People who don’t eat will fill themselves with sugary drinks. People fasting from social media will binge Netflix. Mostly, people flood their minds with constant negative thoughts when they don’t generally think in these ways.
• You haven’t planned for setbacks. I think it’s so important to remember David in 2 Samuel 12 - when the reason for his fast ceased, he stopped. I’m not saying to stop your fast because you aren’t getting what you want; instead, think through what you will do beforehand when the unexpected happens!
• You think your fast will force God to do something he never promised. I get so sad/discouraged when single people are fasting for a spouse or a person is fasting for a promotion on their job, or anything that doesn’t have a definitive “thus says the Lord” attached to it. Listen to Episode 1 of the podcast to discover biblical reasons to fast. Fasting doesn’t move God. It will move you closer to God.
• You don’t have a plan to finish your fast well. Go back to Episode 4 and listen to Fallacy #5. Just as you don’t want to stuff your face before you start a fast, you don’t want to stuff your face after a fast, either.